Tune in to the new 'Wake Up Call' with former FSRN host, Deepa Fernandes

"Wake Up Call," which was first broadcast in 1992, is New York City’s longest running independent drive-time radio show. The show’s history, however, has been a bumpy one. First hosted by Bernard White and Amy Goodman (now known for her renowned show, "Democracy Now!"), "Wake Up Call" was described once as "one of WBAI's most important and successful shows" in the 1990s.

But after eight years, Goodman and White were fired after a controversial internal battle at the Pacifica Networks flagship station, WBAI, that resulted in what is now known as the Christmas Coup of 2000. Since then, "Wake Up Call" has struggled to regain the status it had in the 1990s.

But these struggles may be over. The (mainly older, male) management of WBAI, wanting to increase listeners and membership numbers as quickly as possible, made the bold -- and revolutionary -- move of selecting Deepa Fernandes, a young South Asian female journalist who grew up in Australia, to be the new host of its morning flagship show.

This selection made a few people nervous… Some were not convinced that she would be popular enough to attract new listeners to the show -- and in turn new members to the station. Likewise, there were people who were opposed to the idea of having a young foreign-sounding woman hosting "Wake Up Call."

But those people needn’t have worried. There were plenty of listeners who were excited by Fernandes’ return to the WBAI airwaves. Upon hearing that Fernandes was returning to WBAI, one United Nations employee said to me, "That is fantastic, I will write a check to the station right now!" Fans from all over the world (including Cuba, Ecuador, Mexico, Australia and India) wrote good luck messages to Deepa. One fan in Italy said, "Don't forget you have listeners all over the world. I listen from Italy on the Internet and love your show!"

And since the relaunch, listeners new and old have been riveted to the new "Wake Up Call." The show is quickly establishing itself as one that will provide an energetic and heady cocktail of socially progressive national news, as well as an insider’s look into what is happening in New York City.

In the first week, "Wake Up Call" examined the work of the legendary Guyanese historian Walter Rodney; had a discussion about the Guantanamo Bay abuses with an advocate working closely with former detainees; and gave an insiders' report from the United Nations. To commemorate the New York City Puerto Rican Day parade, Fernandes interviewed the first Queen of the parade, Dilsia Pagan.

According to Deepa, mixing it up is all part of the fun. "My goal is to make people who are switching stations stop -- our frequency is in the middle of the dial and we have to take advantage of that fact!"

Fernandes and the "Wake Up Call" producers say they want to contribute to the social change movement by doing a few, very ambitious things. First, they want "Wake Up Call" to reflect the realities of -- and build a bridge between -- the diverse communities of New York City. Fernandes explains, "When we looked at Walter Rodney’s legacy, we made sure that we looked at the context in which he was writing. We tried to highlight the relationship between his work and the work of contemporary revolutionaries -- and compare the challenges he faced during his time with the challenges his modern counterparts face today.”

"Wake Up Call" also aims to change the public perception of community media. For years, community radio has been associated, sometimes unfairly, with low production values. This, Fernandes says, has played a major role in repelling people who might have wanted to hear new and progressive ideas. She points out that because the MTV generation has been brought up on slick presentation values, the only way to get more people to see the value of community radio is to improve its approach to radio production. By doing this, she believes community radio will eventually become more effective in helping those people who have been shut out of the media landscape find a platform on which they can express their views and experiences.

In addition, the new "Wake Up Call" wants to make its mark as one of the few shows that really cuts through the media news spin by interviewing and talking to the people who are directly affected by the news. Fernandes believes that most news shows focus on the big players and get caught up in politics.

"Look at the issue of African debt. Who is really looking at the economics of all of this? Is anyone talking to who is really affected? Instead, most media outlets are focusing on the relationship between Bush and Blair."

"Wake Up Call," on the other hand, addressed the issue of Western aid to Africa by pointing out that Africa has "paid its debt" through the money it has lost from free trade policies that have strangled the continent. The show also examined the hypocrisy of the United States and the United Kingdom, who on one hand claim to want to help corruption in Africa, but instead are profiting through the sale of arms to the very governments they accuse of defrauding the people of Africa.

So far, Fernandes’ fearless approach to radio seems to have worked. Her ability to look at politics and discuss popular culture from a progressive viewpoint has, naturally, stirred some debate between listeners and activists. Her recent treatment of the Michael Jackson court case, for example, attracted some criticism, but as one listener put it, "If 'Wake Up Call' talked about Michael Jackson today in any sort of interesting way that had relevance to a larger progressive project, then good for them…"

On the whole, Fernandes’ approach to progressive radio has won her -- and "Wake Up Call" -- new fans. As one listener raves, “The improvement is immediate. I hope WBAI continues to upgrade their programs, particularly by bringing in younger people who are actually excited to be on the air."

It looks like Deepa Fernandes might have sparked the fire in the belly of progressive radio.

You can listen to Wake Up Call at 99.3 FM or check out Wake Up Call online at: http://wakeupcallradio.blogspot.com/

This piece, written by Chris Nsiah-Buadi, was originally published in Pop and Politics in July.

STAY TUNED!! Listen to Faada Freddy from the Senegalese Hip Hop Group, Daara J tell The Global Blend, what he thinks about US Hip Hop, why he thinks Ghanaian Hi Life is so influential - and why he loves Corrnwall, England so much!